Akendra Jackson, Nutrition Educator – Berkeley County
The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program continues to impact our participants’ health and wellness significantly. I have been working with a homemaker who is more enthusiastic about her health now than ever. During our weekly lessons, she regularly shared her health achievements. She was excited about her 4-pound weight loss due to implementing healthier food choices learned from ESBA lessons.
On our last visit, I presented her with a completion certificate. She then shared a special letter she had written about her ESBA experience. The letter reads as follows:
“Akendra, thank you for being such a great teacher. I appreciate all that you did to make the nutrition class so interesting. Your enthusiasm and knowledge of the lessons were a blessing for me. I do not remember looking forward to anything as I did for your Friday visits in a long time. I genuinely appreciated all the knowledge you shared with me about what food supplies the different nutrients the body needs. All the diverse ways to season our food instead of the usual salt and sugar. Great practices on how to eat healthy, what to look for at the grocery store, the season of fruit and vegetables, and how to compare the price on the shelf below the item when considering the cost per size. It takes a little longer at the store but is worth the savings. I will continue to use what I have learned in this class daily. Thank you again.”
I am regularly reminded of how grateful I am to be part of such a great program; this participant is no exception. The program impacts others but also shows how nutrition and physical activity work together for better health.
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.
